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Abstract:

The experience of studying the work of Leo Tolstoy in the aspect of the influence of the English novel tradition proves the attention of the Russian classic to the works of female Victorian writers, including not very famous, such as, for example, M.E. Braddon. This article adds to the list of English women writers, which were important for Tolstoy, the now almost forgotten, but at one time extremely popular novelist, a bright representative of the genre of the sensational novel Ellen Wood (1814–1887), who wrote under the pseudonym Mrs. Henry Wood. In particular, the question of the probable influence of her most successful novel East Lynne, which has gained worldwide recognition, on the creative consciousness of Leo Tolstoy at the time of writing Anna Karenina is considered. The mention of the writer in his letters, the presence of her books in the Yasnaya Polyana library prove Tolstoy’s interest in her work. It is established that the string of events in E. Wood’s novel about an unfaithful wife, her affair, suffering and death is consonant with the plot scheme of Tolstoy’s novel in the context of the general theme of family breakdown and female infidelity. The plot, thematic and ideological parallels of the two works are revealed. The central theme of E. Wood’s novel is illegal passion, forbidden sexuality, violation of the moral law, which corresponds to the origins of Tolstoy’s novel design. The novel East Lynne expands the range of sources in the functioning of the “code” of the English novel in Anna Karenina and encourages further study of English popular literature in connection with Tolstoy’s work, including in the gender aspect.